Bicycle.



Patented Ian. 23, I900. E. Y. WHITE.

B l C Y C L E.

(Application filed Oct. 15, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheef I.

(No Model.)

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BICYCLE.

(Application filed Oct. 15, 1898.}

3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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N0. 64l,9l4. Patented Jan. 23, I900. E. Y. WHITE.

BICYCLE.

(Application filed Oct. 15, 1898.) (No Modal.) 3 Sheets8heet 3.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVARD Y. \VHITE, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

BICYCLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,914, dated January 23, 1900.

Application filed October 15, 1898. Serial No. 693,577- (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, EDWAVRDYY. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to crank-hangers and connections for bicycles, and may be called a cushion crank-hanger, wherein the crankshaft support is connected to the seat or saddle support and is permitted to yield in the hanger.

The object of the invention is to produce a bracket or hanger-support in which the crankshaft shall be supported by an elastic cushion, preferably a pneumatic cushion, and the bearings for said shaft shall be connected to the seat, so that the seat may maintain a fixed relation to the cranks and crank-shaft, notwithstanding the yielding of the shaft, and, further, to modify and improve certain parts of the frame and seat-support of a bicycle.

Figure 1 is a cross-section of the bracket or crank-hanger of a bicycle, showing crankshaft, cushion, and connections. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section and partly broken away, of substantially the same parts and showing frame connections to bracket. Fig. 3 is a partial broken elevation and partial section of the crank-hanger, an elevation of the cushion, and a section of the seat-post, showing also parts of the frame. Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation of the pneumatic cushion. Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of the main parts of a bicycle, showing general relation of the present invention to the machine. Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the crank-hanger, and Fig. 7 a plan of the cover to said hanger.

The numeral 1 indicatesthe front bar, and 2 the rear bar or fork, of the frame of a bicycle or of sockets for such frame or fork, no special novelty or invention being claimed therefor. 3 indicates-a hollow hanger connected to said frame, forming a bearing-support for the crank-axle and its bearings.

4 indicates a crank-axle of any'suitable or usual form, and 5 indicates the bearing-box through which said axle extends, anyusual antifriction-bearings being provided. The hollow bearing-sleeve 5 extends through the hollow hanger 3. The sleeve 5 has a strong tubular arm 6 extending upwardly inside the seat-post and an arm G extending downwardly. The upper arm 6 extends within the seat-standard 7, which is connected to the hanger 3 rigidly, and the usual frame-bars 8 9 may connect the upper part of this standard. A pneumatic or similar cushion 10 is interposed between the bearing-sleeve 5 and the bracket 3. This cushion is preferably a hollow broken ring or hollow-rin g segment of elastic material, as indicated in Fig. 4. The upper arm 6 of the bearing-sleeve can extend through the broken portion a of the cushion and the arm 6 can extend downwardly through the hole bin the cushion. The arms 6 and 6 of sleeve 5 are preferably rectangular at or near the sleeve 5 to which they are connected, but the outer ends of said arms may be cylindrical, if desired. The sleeve 5 or hollow-ring segment forming cushion 10 is inserted in the hollow of hanger 3,

by preference through a lower opening, whichis covered bycover 23, and which cover when attached closes the opening at the bottom of hanger 3.

Hanger 3 has end guides 14 14, preferably integral with the piece 3, andthese guides, which are duplicated at each end of the hanger, have curved guideways between them, into which guideways the ends of sleeve 5 extend. The curve of these guides is on a circle struck from the center of the axle of the rear wheel or from such point as is the center to which the power of the crank is to be communicated, so that a generally upward or downward movement of the sleeve 5 will be in the arc of a circle about the driven point, and a sprocket-wheel 15, if such is used, may maintain its distance from the driven point, and thus maintain an even tension on the'driving mechanism.

The upper arm of sleeve 6 has a tubular extension 16, which extension is preferably a tapering tube connected to arm 6 by a screw or otherwise. The tube 16 forms a support for the seat-post 17, which post 17 is split at the lower end and has a tapering recess in which a tapering nut 18 enters and may be drawn in by screw-bolt 19, so as to bind the seat-post within the tube 16. Any other suitable and usual connection may be used to support the seat, no special novelty being claimed for means of connecting a post of a bicycle adjustably to a tube in the frame.

It will be evident that the weight supported by sleeve 5 is different when there is a weight on the seat-post than when the machine is empty and that this weight will rest on the cushion 10. As the sleeve 5 rises and falls in the bracket 3 between guides 14. the arms 6 6 of sleeve 5 must be allowed to move slightly forward and rearward, owing to the curved form of guides 14. This is permitted by allowing a slight space in front and rear of arm 6 where the same passes through collar 7 in the standard 7. Similar provision is made for movement of arm 6 in the cover 23 of the bracket.

Cover 23 has the general form of a segment of bracket 3 and is held to the bracket by screws through holes 24; in the cover and entering the bracket at 25 or in other suitable manner. For additional strength and security the cover may have wings 26, which enter recesses at the ends of bracket 3.

A plate 30, having an opening for the passage of the sleeve 5, is held to said sleeve by a nut-rim 31, which nut preferably engages sleeve 5. This is duplicated at each end of the sleeve 5 to close the opening into the bracket. As the plate 30 is intended to close the openings at the end of the bracket or hanger 3 in all positions of sleeve 5, plate 30 must be somewhat larger than the end of hanger Said plate 30 may be merelya flat ring or washer or may be of other shape and large enough to cover the opening between guides 14. at the end of the hanger in all positions of sleeve 5.

I am aware that the seat-post of a bicycle has been supported on an elastic or yielding support. I am also aware that the crank of a bicycle has been supported yieldingly. My

.construction involves a difierent idea from either of these and is, in fact, a cushion, and preferablya pneumatic cushi0n,for the crankbearing, and may include a rigid connection from said bearing to the seat, so that the two shall rise and fall together, although the adjustment of the seat should be provided for to suit tall or short persons.

It has been found in practical use, particularly with bicycles having the so-called diamond frame or other usual modification thereof, that a great part of the strain on the frame is at that part known to the trade as the hearing or bracket for the crankhanger, and many frames break at that place. In some few machines known to me the saddle-support is near the crank-hanger and connected thereto. This still further increases the strain on the frame at that point. I concentrate the weight of the saddle and its load and of the crank-hanger on that part of the frame known as the hanger-bearing or bracket, as 3 in the drawings, and make that the center of strain or stress. I provide for taking up such strain or stress, however,

by a cushion which acts in all directions from which such strain or stress may come.

I am aware that pneumatic cushions, so called, have been used in the hubs of bicyclewheels. I assert that such are not the equivalentof my pneumatic cushion in the brackethangerfirst, because it takes at least two pneumatic hubs in a bicycle to support the shocks of travel, whereas I may use but one; secondly, because the pneumatic hubs, so called, are exposed to sidewise strains or pressures when the wheel bears unevenly on the ground or runs over obstructions, while my cushion in the bracket is not exposed to such strains, and, thirdly, a pneumatic hub, so called, so faras Iam aware, has not been made to directly support a standard on which the weight to be borne is concentrated.

It must be understood that I contemplate modifications of construction and that the invention is believed to be as broad as the following claims.

VVhat I claim is 1. In a bicycle, the hollow hanger connected to the frame, the bearing-sleeve for the crank within said hanger having an arm extending upward inside the seat-standard, the seat-post adjustably connected to said arm, and a hollow segmental pneumatic cushion within the hanger and supporting'the bearing-sleeve, all combined substantially as described.

2. In a bicycle, a hollow crank-shaft hanger connected to the frame, a pneumatic cushion within said hanger, and a crank-shaft bearing-piece resting on said cushion, all combined substantially as described.

3. In a bicycle, the frame, a hollow shafthanger connected to the frame, a pneumatic cushion Within said hanger, the crank-shaft bearing-piece resting on said cushion, and guides by which the movement of the said bearing-piece is controlled as the cushion yields, all combined substantially as described.

4. In a bicycle, a hollow shaft-hanger, a pneumatic cushion therein, the crank-shaft bearing-piece resting on said cushion, and the saddle support connected directly to said crank-shaft hearing, so that the saddle and crank-shaft bearing will yield together, in combination.

5. In a bicycle, a hollow hanger connected to the frame and provided with guides on a curve concentric with the driven shaft,a yielding pneumatic cushion within the hanger, and a crank-shaft supported by a yielding bearing-piece on the cushion and guided by said curved guides in its yielding movement, all combined.

6. In a cycle, the hollow hanger, a pneumatic cushion within the same, the crankshaft bearing resting on said cushion and guided in its yielding movement in a curve concentric with the driven point, and the seat-support connected to said shaft-bearing and havinga yielding movement in the frame ICC to compensate for the curved movement of the shaft-bearing, all combined substantially as described.

7. In a cycle, the hollow hanger, the broken hollow rubber ring cushion within said hanger, and the crank-shaft bearing resting on said cushion and having arms projecting nearly radially through openings in the ringcushion, substantially as described.

8. In a bicycle, the hollow hanger having an opening at bottom and aremovable cover therefor, the pneumatic'cushion and crankshaft bearing applicable through said opening, and means for connecting said cover to the crank-hanger, all combined substantially as described.

9. The hollow hanger connected to the frame and having top and bottom openings, the cushion within said hanger, the crankshaft bearing-piece resting on said cushion and having arms projecting through said openings in the hanger, curved guides on the hanger controlling the direction of movement of the shaft-bearing, and a connection from the upper arm of the shaft-hanger to the seat, all combined substantially as described.

10. In a bicycle, the hollow hanger connected to the frame, a hollow segment of a ring forming a pneumatic cushion therein, the crank-shaft bearing mainly inclosed in said hanger but projecting at the sides thereof and resting on the cushion, and the end covers connected to the ends of the said hanger and extending over the openings through which the sleeve projects at the sides of the hanger, all combined substantially as described.

11. In a bicycle, the frame havingahollow shaft-hanger, the crank-shaft bearing resting on a hollow segment of a ring forming a pneumatic cushion in said hanger, curved guides in the hanger by which the shaft-bearing is guided in an are about the center to which power is communicated, and the seat-support directly connected to the crank-shaft hearing, all combined substantially as described.

12. In a bicycle, the crank-shaft bearingsleeve supported on a cushion in the hanger, said sleeve havinga tapering tubular arm extending upward inside the seat-standard, the seat-post split at its lower end and having a tapering internal recess, and extending inside the said arm, and a tapering nut and bolt by which said seat-post may be spread and thereby secured to said arm, all combined substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD Y. WHITE.

Witnesses:

LEONARD GARZA,J1., W. D. ELROD. 

